Originally Posted by Moe_Tilden
Once Upon a Time in America

Elegantly crafted and superbly acted. A beautifully filmed movie and a nice counterpoint to the romanticism of The Godfather. After watching the ending scene, I subscribe to the theory that everything after Noodles's betrayal in 1933 never really happened, and is all the result of his hallucinating on opium as a means to deal with his conscience. Take note of the surroundings after Noodles leaves Max's mansion; the symbolism and metaphors. Then compare them to what's in the opium den; the lanterns and, in particular, the opium pipe. It's the lingering shot on something that strongly resembles an opium pipe on the garbage truck that sells this theory for me.

One complaint is that Joe Pesci's character was underused, which is odd for such a long movie, and another is, perhaps, the gratuitous rape scenes. But De Niro is, as always, magnetic to watch, and James Woods knocks his role out of the park, too.

I highly recommend.



Great movie, I would have to have this in my top ten.


Be Loyal, Be Loving, Be Quiet.